02 Feb 06
The 6 MPS is powered by the 2.3-litre engine also found in the 6 Sport, with a Hitachi turbo that boosts power from 164bhp to 256bhp. A fat 280lb-ft slug of torque is available from 3,000rpm. This endows the 6 MPS with a 0-62mph time of 6.6seconds and a top speed of 150mph. It's not meant to be quite an out-and-out road-going rally car in the vein of the Impreza or Evo, however, and is aimed more at the quick end of the company car market. But that 2.3-litre engine only returns 27.7mpg on the combined cycle, while emitting 245g/km of CO2 - and thus incurring a high tax penalty - which might not please too many fleet managers.
Wheel-change over, I got on with the drive. The 90 minutes wasted at the roadside was probably a blessing in disguise, as the early morning fog had lifted and the roads had started to dry out from the overnight rain.
Even with the best efforts of Mazda's engineers, getting 256bhp through the front wheels would be pretty tricky - unless you fancy smoking a set of front tyres every week - so the MPS is fitted with four-wheel drive. But instead of a full-time system as found in other turbocharged Japanese saloons, the MPS has an active torque-split all-wheel drive system, basically one which automatically sends power to the correct wheels when the car needs it. This, combined with some serious stiffening and tweaking of the suspension, should create quite a special driving machine.
